Candra Gupta proceeded to enlarge his kingdom by seizing control of small, remote regions of Magadha and then working his way gradually toward the center. He then moved to the Punjab and repeated the process. Once he absorbed the independent states in northern India, he turned his army against Seleucus I Nicator. By 303, the former Macedonian provinces of Kabul, Qandahar, and Baluchistan formed part of his empire. Before his death in 298, Candra Gupta's empire stretched from central Afghanistan to the Bay of Bengal.
The new Mauryan Empire was rigidly organized. It was comprised of four general regions headed by one viceroy, broken into smaller provinces led by a governor and then into districts and finally villages. Each domain was to report to the assigned ruler, who ultimately reported to Candra Gupta. The highly centralized bureaucracy was a model government, and Candra Gupta steadily enlarged the army to maintain that order. Some sources suggested that the military numbered more than 600,000, including a smaller number of cavalry. Moreover, centralization was reflected in a unified form of currency and weights and measurements.
As the Magadha king sought territorial expansion, Candra Gupta seized, captured, and killed him.
Candra Gupta proclaimed himself king ca. 324 and moved steadily to institute a formal bureaucracy
Bindusara, Candra Gupta's son, succeeded him as the Mauryan emperor in 297.
As described inArthashastra, or Treatise on the Aims of Life, a classical and pioneering book in political science, Kautilya's advice advanced techniques for promoting and securing universal sovereignty. Arthashastra served as an instructional manual for rulers on the art of government; Kautilya revealed the means by which a ruler could augment the wealth of his state, maintain domestic law and order, and extend his empire.
The high point of the Mauryan Empire came under Bindusara's son, Asoka, who reigned from 269 to 232. Asoka began as a conqueror but ended as a Buddhist emperor. Asoka's leadership appeared to conform to the precedent set by Candra Gupta. In 260, Asoka led troops into a bloody war at Kalinga, with death tolls reportedly numbering into the hundreds of thousands. Remorseful over his bloody wars of conquest, Asoka converted to Buddhism and actively used the full powers of his state to spread Buddhism.
For several hundred years following the fall of the Mauryan Empire ca. 185 BCE, India was divided into many small, independent areas ruled by a king, a tribal chief, or a wealthy, influential family
Tribal republics had been present in India for centuries, governing their regions independently. After Samudra Gupta conquered them, the tribal republics broke down. That shift proved detrimental for later Gupta rulers, because the tribes of the Punjab and Rajasthan had traditionally served as a buffer between India and northern invaders.
The Mauryan Army was quite large. Classical sources state that Candra Gupta Maurya's force consisted of 600,000 infantry, 30,000 cavalry, and 9,000 elephants.
Society
It was also at about that point that the caste system of social classification first came into use. -
1700 B.C.
Samudra Gupta ushered in a new era of Indian cultural revivalism with a focus on the arts.
In 380, Samudra Gupta was succeeded by his son, Candra Gupta II. He continued to expand the empire; however, his rule is better known for its cultural accomplishments.
Candra Gupta II, a devout Hindu of the Brahmin caste, ruled his empire well for about 35 years.
Samudra Gupta was a member of the Gupta dynasty, which probably started as a wealthy landowning family in Magadhathat gradually acquired political power.
Many of the details of Gupta's life can be found on an inscription on the Allahabad Pillar of Asoka. Samudra Gupta conquered four kings in the area of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh and destroyed nine kings in Aryavarta, on the western part of the Ganges River plain. He forced tribal Indian chiefs of central India and the Deccan Plateau to pay tribute to him. Samudra Gupta destroyed the culture of the Dravidian-speaking people in the Deccan. He burned the glorious city of Ujjain in 388, which destroyed most of Scythic culture and ended the Saka civilization. He marched down the east coast of India to Kanchipuram, which is near Madras, conquered Assam, Bengal, and small kingdoms of Nepal and the Punjab, and he took over nine republics in Rajasthan. Gupta demanded and received tribute from the Shakas, the Daivaputra Shahanushahi, Ceylon, and the other islands.
There were six types of troops in the Mauryan Army: the Kshatriya or troops of the hereditary warrior class who formed the spine of the professional army; mercenaries and freebooters hired as individuals seeking military adventure; troops provided by corporations or guilds; troops supplied by subordinate allies; deserters from the enemy; and wild forest and hill tribesmen. The troops of the corporations are little understood and may have been units maintained by guilds to guard their caravan routes and trade stations. The imperial armies were not conscript armies. In Vedic times, fighting was the responsibility of all members of the tribe, but the development of the caste system prevented the various classes from associating even in war, thus removing the largest manpower pool, the cultivators, from military service. By the time of the Mauryas, whatever sort of conscription had once existed earlier had disappeared, and the imperial armies were armies of professional warrior aristocrats and other professionals fed, equipped, trained, paid, and otherwise maintained at great cost to the state.
Society (final paragraph)
After the fall of the Mauryan empire by the Gupta empires, the civilization began a process of social classification by the Brahmin caste. A caste is a social group into which a person is born and cannot change out of, no matter their level of work. During the Gupta times, the castes began to evolve due to trades, religions, and jobs or occupations. Still, there are three main levels to the caste system. The Brahmins, or preists were considered closest to moskha, the goal of human life to Hindu's. The Kshatriya's were warriors that were the spine of the army, and controlled the mercenaries, and aristocrats. Finally, the Vaisyas were mostly herders, farmers, artisans, and merchants. They had hard and restriced lives. Dirty work such as cleaning streets and making leather was left to them. Within these 3 main classes were other branches, too. It is with the caste system that the entire empire was organized. Goverment (Final paragraph)
The Government in the Mauryan empire was incredibly strict and rigidly organized. The land was seperated into four regions led by a vicory, then fruther seperated into provinces that reported to a governer, and finally broke up into smaller villages. All the leaders reported to Candra Gupta, who proclaimed himself as kind around 380. The government itself was a bureaucracy, which worked through departments that were controlled by appointed officials. After the Gupta empire took over the Mauryan's, Gupta worked to expand his empire after his father, Samudra Gupta, with the massive, well known army. This army was well known and said to have a force of 600,000 infantry, 30,000 cavalry, and 9,000 elephants. Gupta ruled for about 35 years and was then succeded by his son,. The people were organized by a caste system, and more specifically the Brahmin caste. Laws and rights were given based on a persons birthright and therefore, the class in which they stand. Generally, the system of government was a very strict and organized plan that ruled the peoples lives.
Candra Gupta proceeded to enlarge his kingdom by seizing control of small, remote regions of Magadha and then working his way gradually toward the center. He then moved to the Punjab and repeated the process. Once he absorbed the independent states in northern India, he turned his army against Seleucus I Nicator. By 303, the former Macedonian provinces of Kabul, Qandahar, and Baluchistan formed part of his empire. Before his death in 298, Candra Gupta's empire stretched from central Afghanistan to the Bay of Bengal.
The new Mauryan Empire was rigidly organized. It was comprised of four general regions headed by one viceroy, broken into smaller provinces led by a governor and then into districts and finally villages. Each domain was to report to the assigned ruler, who ultimately reported to Candra Gupta. The highly centralized bureaucracy was a model government, and Candra Gupta steadily enlarged the army to maintain that order. Some sources suggested that the military numbered more than 600,000, including a smaller number of cavalry. Moreover, centralization was reflected in a unified form of currency and weights and measurements.
As the Magadha king sought territorial expansion, Candra Gupta seized, captured, and killed him.
Candra Gupta proclaimed himself king ca. 324 and moved steadily to institute a formal bureaucracy
Bindusara, Candra Gupta's son, succeeded him as the Mauryan emperor in 297.
As described in Arthashastra, or Treatise on the Aims of Life, a classical and pioneering book in political science, Kautilya's advice advanced techniques for promoting and securing universal sovereignty. Arthashastra served as an instructional manual for rulers on the art of government; Kautilya revealed the means by which a ruler could augment the wealth of his state, maintain domestic law and order, and extend his empire.
The high point of the Mauryan Empire came under Bindusara's son, Asoka, who reigned from 269 to 232. Asoka began as a conqueror but ended as a Buddhist emperor. Asoka's leadership appeared to conform to the precedent set by Candra Gupta. In 260, Asoka led troops into a bloody war at Kalinga, with death tolls reportedly numbering into the hundreds of thousands. Remorseful over his bloody wars of conquest, Asoka converted to Buddhism and actively used the full powers of his state to spread Buddhism.
For several hundred years following the fall of the Mauryan Empire ca. 185 BCE, India was divided into many small, independent areas ruled by a king, a tribal chief, or a wealthy, influential family
Tribal republics had been present in India for centuries, governing their regions independently. After Samudra Gupta conquered them, the tribal republics broke down. That shift proved detrimental for later Gupta rulers, because the tribes of the Punjab and Rajasthan had traditionally served as a buffer between India and northern invaders.
The Mauryan Army was quite large. Classical sources state that Candra Gupta Maurya's force consisted of 600,000 infantry, 30,000 cavalry, and 9,000 elephants.
Society
It was also at about that point that the caste system of social classification first came into use. -
1700 B.C.
Samudra Gupta ushered in a new era of Indian cultural revivalism with a focus on the arts.
In 380, Samudra Gupta was succeeded by his son, Candra Gupta II. He continued to expand the empire; however, his rule is better known for its cultural accomplishments.
Candra Gupta II, a devout Hindu of the Brahmin caste, ruled his empire well for about 35 years.
Samudra Gupta was a member of the Gupta dynasty, which probably started as a wealthy landowning family in Magadhathat gradually acquired political power.
Many of the details of Gupta's life can be found on an inscription on the Allahabad Pillar of Asoka. Samudra Gupta conquered four kings in the area of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh and destroyed nine kings in Aryavarta, on the western part of the Ganges River plain. He forced tribal Indian chiefs of central India and the Deccan Plateau to pay tribute to him. Samudra Gupta destroyed the culture of the Dravidian-speaking people in the Deccan. He burned the glorious city of Ujjain in 388, which destroyed most of Scythic culture and ended the Saka civilization. He marched down the east coast of India to Kanchipuram, which is near Madras, conquered Assam, Bengal, and small kingdoms of Nepal and the Punjab, and he took over nine republics in Rajasthan. Gupta demanded and received tribute from the Shakas, the Daivaputra Shahanushahi, Ceylon, and the other islands.
There were six types of troops in the Mauryan Army: the Kshatriya or troops of the hereditary warrior class who formed the spine of the professional army; mercenaries and freebooters hired as individuals seeking military adventure; troops provided by corporations or guilds; troops supplied by subordinate allies; deserters from the enemy; and wild forest and hill tribesmen. The troops of the corporations are little understood and may have been units maintained by guilds to guard their caravan routes and trade stations. The imperial armies were not conscript armies. In Vedic times, fighting was the responsibility of all members of the tribe, but the development of the caste system prevented the various classes from associating even in war, thus removing the largest manpower pool, the cultivators, from military service. By the time of the Mauryas, whatever sort of conscription had once existed earlier had disappeared, and the imperial armies were armies of professional warrior aristocrats and other professionals fed, equipped, trained, paid, and otherwise maintained at great cost to the state.
Society (final paragraph)
After the fall of the Mauryan empire by the Gupta empires, the civilization began a process of social classification by the Brahmin caste. A caste is a social group into which a person is born and cannot change out of, no matter their level of work. During the Gupta times, the castes began to evolve due to trades, religions, and jobs or occupations. Still, there are three main levels to the caste system. The Brahmins, or preists were considered closest to moskha, the goal of human life to Hindu's. The Kshatriya's were warriors that were the spine of the army, and controlled the mercenaries, and aristocrats. Finally, the Vaisyas were mostly herders, farmers, artisans, and merchants. They had hard and restriced lives. Dirty work such as cleaning streets and making leather was left to them. Within these 3 main classes were other branches, too. It is with the caste system that the entire empire was organized.
Goverment (Final paragraph)
The Government in the Mauryan empire was incredibly strict and rigidly organized. The land was seperated into four regions led by a vicory, then fruther seperated into provinces that reported to a governer, and finally broke up into smaller villages. All the leaders reported to Candra Gupta, who proclaimed himself as kind around 380. The government itself was a bureaucracy, which worked through departments that were controlled by appointed officials. After the Gupta empire took over the Mauryan's, Gupta worked to expand his empire after his father, Samudra Gupta, with the massive, well known army. This army was well known and said to have a force of 600,000 infantry, 30,000 cavalry, and 9,000 elephants. Gupta ruled for about 35 years and was then succeded by his son,. The people were organized by a caste system, and more specifically the Brahmin caste. Laws and rights were given based on a persons birthright and therefore, the class in which they stand. Generally, the system of government was a very strict and organized plan that ruled the peoples lives.
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